French Defense: Horwitz Attack
1. e4 e6 2. b3
The French Defense: Horwitz Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. b3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,513 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (69% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.19 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd3)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/4P3/1P6/P1PP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 981 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,276 | |
| 2000+ | 1,256 | |
| All | 5,513 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 3,820 (69%) | |
| 2… c5 | 356 (6%) | |
| 2… b6 | 258 (5%) | |
| 2… c6 | 215 (4%) | |
| 2… d6 | 176 (3%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 125 (2%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 74 (1%) | |
| 2… Ne7 | 68 (1%) |
Master games
366 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 15%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Klementy Sychev (2542) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2636) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st Jan Early · 2025-01-21
- GM Dimitrios Mastrovasilis (2582) – GM Jacek Tomczak (2588) 1/2-1/2 · European Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-15
- IM Levy Rozman (2324) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Apr Early · 2025-04-01
- GM Narayanan S L (2597) – IM Alexey Reshetnikov (2492) 0-1 · Titled Tue 29th Jul Early · 2025-07-29
- GM Sebastien Maze (2546) – GM Rustam Khusnutdinov (2484) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 10th Aug · 2021-08-10
Search all games of the French Defense: Horwitz Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sexypookie (2664) – FM Attila76 (2626) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- lelgamer (2616) – TheEssssjuuus (2622) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM TrispiosReturns (2518) – MothToTheFlame (2642) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (1. e4 e6) 1. e4 e6
Continuations
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit C00
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit, Pinova Gambit C00
- French Defense: Bird Invitation C00
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00
- French Defense: Chigorin Variation C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted C00
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.